Nottingham Forest should sign a striker in January, with a player like Aston Villa's Jonathan Kodjia the preferred option.
That's the view of Forest legend Steve Hodge, who feels the squad are one striker light of a real charge at the automatic promotion spots.
Forest face Cardiff this weekend and should results go their way, they could find themselves only two points off the Championship's top two.
But Hodge, who had two spells at the City Ground, believes Sabri Lamouchi needs to bring another striker to the club in January to ease the burden on Lewis Grabban and counter the risk of an injury.
Speaking to BBC Radio Nottingham, Hodge said: “I mentioned first game of the season I was a bit unhappy about having no backup striker in case he [Lewis Grabban] got injured, so far – touch wood – he hasn’t got injured and has got eight goals. Keep him fit and he’ll get 20 this season. Midfield players have been solid this year. The foreign players have settled down nicely now.
“We’ve had a problem scoring goals and finishing teams off, drawing a few games that we might have won. Won a few games narrowly, which happened against Fulham, Derby.
“Where we are now, we’ve got a big squad who are playing well and are happy. The injuries have been covered, we need another striker in case he gets injured at some point this season but we’ve got to be confident in the top six.”
When pushed for a name on a potential January target, Hodge recommended Kodjia. The Ivorian is out of favour with Villa and is yet to start a game this season under Dean Smith.
However, he has a solid record in the second tier and is the type of player that could have an impact, according to Hodge.
“If you’re up there, then players of that ilk will fancy that and think ‘I might get a few goals there’.”
